September OMG progress

 

Well, some progress was made to this quilt this month! I made 4 borders in yellow and have vines attached to parts of 3 of them with a couple of flowers on each so far. Two of the borders are attached. Since I have done this one all by hand, I decided to continue with the hand piecing on all of this one. I need to attach the third border and connect my vine around the corner. I figured that would be easier once the borders are attached. I am happy with the progress on this in September.

Linking up with the OMG end of September link up.

Fall 2020 Ravelry Challenge to finish off projects!

 Since I successfully finished off 3 of my quilts from the Summer Challenge, I think I'll join in on the Fall 2020 Challenge. Now to pick out some projects to finish off! You would think it would be easy with the RSC Challenge finishing up with collections of blocks ready to go by the end of October!

Time to pick some projects - I'll put most of my RSC ones on and add a few others just for fun.... and in case I feel like working on them! Here is a long list in no particular order!

1.) Stashbuster 2020 block - I set 4 blocks together each month in the RSC Color making 2 'blocks' each month. I need to add 2 yellows and then lay them out into a top.

2.) Stars and Nines. This one just needs some quilting and the binding attached. ** Finished 10/3/2020.

3.) Hexagon flowers on a black background. These are a stack of blocks I made a few years ago. Not sure if they will become one or two quilts....

4.) This one stayed on the list - needs quilting. Vermont Quilt Festival Booth Hop from either 2008 or 2009.

5.) Hand pieced quilt along- needs hand quilting. Small quilt. ** Finished 12/27/2020.

6.) Crumb blocks.... might these end up in a quilt?

7.) Small triangle scraps...this will be finished into a hot mat I think. 9 inches square ** Finished 10/8/2020.

8.) Small magic stars

9.) Keeping this one on just in case - the Kim Diehl kit Bittersweet Briar.

10.) Sweet Confetti blocks - I have 86 of these made.... I need 10 more yellows so I can finish it off.

11.) Mini magic stars - **Finished in December

12.) Cobblestone rows. I added a black as well and need to make a yellow strip. **Finished 11/10/2020.

13.) Midget Applique quilt from Sentimental Stitches. I need to add 2 more borders and flowers and leaves to the vines.

14.) Ella Maria Deacon blocks - make a few more and finish them off into a top. I believe I was making these by hand. Patterns from Sentimental Stitches.

15.) Cat and mouse is on the frame in process of hand quilting but has been sadly neglected.

16.) Hand pieced quilt along top needs to get hand quilted.

17.) Green Tumblers

18.) Purple applique hearts... need to figure out how they want to be set.

19.) Hoarfrost - top is done will it get quilted this year?

20.) Since I could not leave it on an odd number....I added this quilt that has been an on and off, leader and ender for years. My scrappy irish chain. I believe I had a bucket of 2 inch squares next to my sewing machine for a while and would make sets, and rows and blocks in between sewing other things. I think it wants to get competed.

I guess that should be enough to 'select' from. I hope to get through a few of them this quarter with some finishes..... you know, so I can start more projects! Hehehe.....

Monday...

I was laying out the backing and batting and cutting what I needed with proper Cat supervision yesterday. 

Peanut inspected the pin bucket and all appeared in order. The quilt did get pinned for machine quilting. I hope to do some quick quilting on it this afternoon and make and attach the binding to the front.

 

I found the pinking rotary cutter blade and was busy cutting 20x20 squares of white muslin for the girls. Pinking rotary makes a mess of little bits everywhere! I still have a little bit to cut sometime this week. I knew I would not get them distributed yesterday so I delayed our meeting for a week to give me more time to deliver. I also need to get more hair ties.... my math always seems off when figuring out things times 2 for some reason!

The Endless Diamond block got completed as well yesterday. I stitched the last two binding lengths for the applique quilt and attached a couple of vines with pins for stitching tonight. I need to make some more vines and flowers at some point... and some leaves. At least I should have a couple of things to stitch while watching the hockey game tonight. 

Sunday

 I honestly do not know what I will be doing today! Well, I do need to cut, prep and drop off 7 sets of mask making things to the girl scout troop scattered over a couple of towns. Greg took Aidan to get the lumber needed for the new run and coop last night while Emily and I were watching the chickens have some outside time. 

These are 13 weeks old.

Emily with Emma the chicken.

I will add some stitches to create the length needed for the other two yellow borders and place the vines for night time stitching. I hand stitched the second border on last night. They still need some more flowers and a few leaves. The blocks are midget applique blocks from Sentimental Stitches website.

Some close ups of the blocks in the quilt. I really love the butterfly and umbrella.

The yellow flower and the bird on the branch are faves in this set.

The pineapple one was so intimidating when I made it but I do love how it came out.

The blue flowers, and that tea pot in this set.

Some stitching to attach all the parts for this Endless Diamond block might happen as well. The parts got pieced during horses yesterday in the feels like 97 degrees late morning! No one told Mother Nature that Florida should be getting some 'fall temps' yet. I hear maybe some cooler for us weather later this week? One can hope. Oops, I see I am missing one white section on the pink. I'll add that before attaching them all to the middle.

We will see if I am tapped to help with coop building or run building today for the little chickens. His back has been hurting more again and the sciatic pain is coming back. Unfortunately, his second shot in the back scheduled for Wednesday has been put off until October 21st. 

Linking up with the Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

RSC in red...

RSC Recap for the red month of September. Yellow is on tap for next month to round out the rainbow quilts.

Two Stashbuster 2020 blocks in red.

10 Sweet Confetti blocks. Pattern from Sunday Best Quilts - Corey Yoder.

A couple of 16 patch blocks with 2.5 inch squares.

cobblestone blocks using 2 inch strips and a grey center.

Stars and nines 48x60 - I got the backing fabric yesterday.

Endless Diamond blocks hand pieced.... hey - there is red in each of the blocks! 

 Linking up Saturday Morning with the RSC Quilters.

Friday....

 I got my Thursday off yesterday from work. I have no clue where the time went though!

I did pop to Joanns - and got 18 yards of white muslin and 2.5 yards of an animal print for girls scouts to make some non-sewing masks for their bronze. 4.99 with a 50% off helped keep it reasonable as I needed 2.5 yards per girl to make 10 masks (they are doing the bandana folding one!). I also hit Dollar Tree to get the stretchy hair bands for those.... and completely forgot the ziplock baggies. I just need to wash, cut and bag them up with cut card stock for the girls to write their care instructions on and folding instructions if they don't sew them instead. They have the option but not all have sewing machines. I need to distribute to the girls this weekend.... While there I also picked up some galaxy print backing width fabric that should work for the stars and nines and the cobblestone quilts which need quilting still. Some should be leftover to cover the 2 hand pieced quilts waiting for hand quilting as well.... and maybe a mask or two for the boy once they go back to school the next quarter/semester.

Back home, I got to sew a little while the kids were in school still. I finished up the 16 patch block in red and the second stashbuster block. I also cut for the 10 sweet confetti blocks but those are in process with step 1. Some endless diamonds white parts were cut as well. I have not been doing any hand work at night this week! I hope to finish the sweet confetti blocks off this afternoon and lay those out for a photo. I really need to make a design wall this weekend instead of using the floor! We will see if I get time or if I am hooked into coop building. Greg is working Saturday morning so he might be up to working on it in the afternoon.... but based on his week of pain I am guessing not.

Stashbuster blocks

16 patch blocks

This was from a couple of days ago when Em was cleaning the inside cage. I let the older ladies out of the coop and they were trying to figure out what these creatures are! 5 little in there... who are not so little anymore except Daisy Chickolotta the baby we got a couple of weeks ago in case Myrtle did not make it. Happy to report the antibiotics worked and she is breathing better now and growing. 

I have been doing a bunch of outside work this week. The lawn got mowed. I've been working on weed wacking (after months of not getting done it is taking a while!). I do need to get into the overgrown garden and start prepping that for fall planting. I dug up the sweet potato's.... did not get much out of my trial run over the summer. They are curing.... and should be ready to eat in a week. 

Emily was trimming trees last night while I was pulling up more grass vines that tangle into the shrubbery beds by the cars and by the pool. After finishing picking up the brush and getting it out back to the brush pile, I headed in the house for some water and sat down.... and hubby kindly said it looks like I needed a shower or bath! Yup - 7:30 at night and it was still hot outside... nothing like the 100+ temps but was still a workout and sweaty. I opted for a bubble bath with a book....and when the child said - don't be in there until 9 again... I reminded her that Dad is capable of helping her study her spelling words for her test today! Mom checked out for the night.

On tap today - working and then I do want to finish up the Sweet Confetti blocks. Dinner is in the crock pot - french dips. I also need to run out to the grocery store and get milk (seems Emily is out!) and rolls and provolone cheese for dinner tonight along with some fresh veggies. I think we'll tackle the other side of the fence by the road tonight - the whole side needs weed wacking and pulling of weeds against the fence and the tree on that side needs trimming so we can get under it with the mower without getting attacked by branches. The end portion of the fence area is all overgrown and Aidan was not getting it with the mower so I need to cut that all back so it can get mowed next week as well. I really miss Greg doing all that work! When that is done... it will be time to trim all the bushes - which will take quite a few hours as well. Never ending. At least it is a little cooler now and in the 80's instead of the 90's. The boy will be tapped to help whether he likes it or not today. He is my shrub trimmer! The model home we bought has lots of shrubbery. I figure I'll let him burn off the fire pit tonight as a reward. 

Sorry for the rambling... it has been a long week (including 2 hours in the dentist chair Wednesday afternoon for the partial crown finally... and the permanent one in 2 weeks). 

Sunday

 I will be working on my midget applique quilt today. I have the vines stitched down on two borders and these 2 flowers were added to this one. I need to prep some more flowers and some leaves to add to this.

The cat liked that extra vine hanging off the edge.... and thought it was a toy! Silly cat.

It appears we have cooler temps today in Florida with a high around 80 degrees! So much better than what we have been having. If Greg's back can handle it - we will take a trip to Lowes to get lumber and spend time outside working on the second coop.  The new set of chickens will not be the same size as the others for a bit so we can't intermingle them yet.... and this way we will have a place to separate them out if needed. These temps will be so much nicer to work in than the feels like 100+!

Linking up with the Slow Sunday stitchers.

RSC in Red...

Sorry if a few are recaps from earlier this week but they do have red in them! 

These are my Endless Diamond blocks I am hand piecing. Mine is drafted based on a photo I saw online but there is a pattern called Grandmothers Prize in a book called Great Scrap Bag Quilts 1980 by Jan Halgrimson. I got my book second hand from an on-line book store. My blocks are 12 inches and 12 are done. Time to prep some more!

This is my Stars and Nines top all sewn together. I have yet to hit Joann's for backing.... I was tired after the drive up to Gainseville yesterday and then a 1.5 hour sitting in the car and the drive home. It was HOT outside- 90 degrees and humid. Seems the AC was not working in the building so Greg was not a happy camper while in with the VA associated docs office either. This one is 48x60 and I have one more set to make a smaller version still.

I love how grouping the shades of colors really makes for a vibrant quilt.

This morning I finished stitching up one Stashbuster block to add to the other stars and nine block and 16 patch block in bright reds, and one flower for the midget applique border. I'll make another stashbuster and 16 patch block in maroons I think. The sweet confetti blocks will get made for next Saturday.

Linking up with the RSC Saturday morning. The kids have insisted I really need to get dressed up now. Something about horse riding in a little over an hour... she thinks I need to be presentable to go to the stables! If their wifi is working, I'll be checking out the link party then. Too hot to be stitching today.

I am so tempted to prep a few hexagon quilt as you go blocks though... I got an early anniversary present in the mail yesterday. Since I had to order something from Amazon, I went with the Quilt Sense Hexagons & 60 Degree Triangles in 3 sizes instead of the Daisy and Grace templates. They should work the same... and I can use the 1 inch hexagon for quilt marking once I ever put my hexagon quilt together! I will be good and get the midget applique to a top before starting this new project though =)

 

Progress?

 I don't know why I put certain things off. Usually, they are not as bad and don't take nearly as long as I think they will! Example - fixing the batting the kittens scratched up on the frame last year. It ended up taking me about 30 minutes.... yet I put it off for a year! I am a master at procrastination!

This time.... it was the midget applique quilt border. I have been putting it off forever! I decided this was the month to make progress and made it my One Monthly Goal. I put it off again, well I did make a bunch of vines with my bias binding maker 1/4 inch. They were sitting on the sewing table for a couple of weeks. 

I was on  a 1.5 hour video staff meeting yesterday after lunch. (I did have the camera on for the beginning until Peanut made my boss burst out laughing while the VP was talking as he walked across the keyboard... twice! I turned the video of me off after that and just watched them and listened... and stitched!) I finished piecing the white edges to 2 of my endless diamond parts and then attached them to the middle section. 12 blocks completed and I love how they are looking. 36x48 is the size right now.... it will get bigger.

I had pulled some fabric for flowers during lunch and worked on making some yellow circle centers and multi colored flowers and circle flowers while on the call. 

Since there was a hockey game last night... I knew I needed hand work (go Lightning - who will see Dallas in the Stanley Cup Finals!). I laid out the midget quilt and put the border along one side. I played with how I wanted the vines and used a few pins to attach them to the yellow border. I got this one side stitched down during the first period. I guess I should have prepped the top as well.... 

I'll stitch down the flowers in bits of time here and there and will be making a bunch more. I am thinking I need 5 or 7 flowers for each corner. I probably need to add a few leaves as well. Hindsight.... I guess I could have used a little vine sticking out of the curve as a spot to put the flowers.....but maybe I'll have to tuck some leaves here and there along the vine and near the flowers. Still a work in progress but it is moving forward.